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Portugal 3 – 1 Czech Republic: Match Recap

June 11th, 2008 | By: Greg | 26 Comments »

Blogger disclaimer: Sagres and Macieira are a lethal combination. Especially when you’re faking a sales meeting during working hours in order to watch a match. And you have to go BACK to the office after the game. As with the match against Turkey, Portugal again lined up exactly how I figured they would:

Cristiano Ronaldo – Nuno Gomes – Simão
Deco – João Moutinho – Petit
Paulo Ferreira – Ricardo Carvalho – Pepe – Bosingwa
Ricardo

First Half Analysis / Notes
These are going to be more “stream of conscious” than coherent summaries… Nuno Gomes has created a new position on the pitch: facilitator. I don’t think he’ll score once this tournament, but he’ll act as a fantastic “turn-and-pass” guy in the middle of the box. If Petit is picked for another international encounter after this Euro, it had better be for charity: he gave the ball away more than my wife gave it up in high school. Simão has a rougher touch than a sluggish child molester and can’t hold up any passes played to him when his back is to the defense. Paulo Ferreira was equally as fantastic as he was willing to let forwards get behind him. Thus far, Deco is the best player in the tournament from kickoff through to the middle of the second half. Petr Cech is sketchy at best on balls fired near his ankles, regardless of how far away from his wingspan they may end up. Ricardo needs to begin committing himself, even if he makes a mistake. The corner that the Czechs converted wasn’t necessarily his fault, but he managed to be well out of position when he dove in vein after the ball was already behind him. In spite of the tie score going into the half, the Czechs embarrassed FIFA’s ranking of #6 in the world with their first half display.

Intermission changes / Thoughts
Simão has no business starting, and neither does Petit. While Moutinho played himself into his position coming into the tournament, half of the decisions he’s making on the pitch make me think he’s trying to play himself to the bench. However, I don’t see anyone more fit to do his job at this point. Going into the second half, Scolari would have been justified in a number of substitutions, including Quaresma on for Simão as well as Meira on for Petit. However, he stuck with his original team and decided it was time to go to war again with them…

Second Half Analysis / Notes
Ricardo was out in no man’s land a number of times but it luckily didn’t come back to haunt the team. Deco’s precision pass at the top of the box and Ronaldo’s cool finish from sixteen yards out was well deserved after a great deal of Portuguese pressure. Quaresma’s slot home in injury time was simply the icing on the cake. I don’t remember when the Czech Republic were threatening during the entire half unless they were taking a set piece. Portugal were dominant, and any team that manages to put three past Petr Cech can rest assured that they have the attacking prowess required to win a tournament of this magnitude.

Individual Player Rankings:
Goalkeeper:
Ricardo: 5 – Now I remember why we lost to Greece in 2004: You have no clue how to handle set pieces!

Defenders / Wingbacks / Attacking Centerbacks:
Paulo Ferreira: 6 – Ick. How many more balls between him and the center back will he fall for? Klitschko-esque petroleum jelly cut work over his eye aside, what did he show me today?

Ricardo Carvalho: 7 – I need to see him impose himself more on corner kicks. When he plays for Chelsea, it’s almost as if he and John Terry are in a contest for who can clear the ball faster. For Portugal I don’t see this same desire. Based on how Ricardo’s spacing out during corners, Ricky C needs to step up his game for the set pieces that other teams are throwing at the Chop back line.

Pepe: 8 -Another solid match. He was as effective on defense as Ronaldo was up front. If it weren’t for a goal and an assist from Ronnie, he’d be Man of the Match for the second consecutive tie.

Jose Bosingwa: 6.75 - Okay, runs forward are fun. Not so much fun when they’re against a team that can actually put together some semblance of a counter attack.

Midfielders
Petit: 3 – Woeful distribution, and run over in transition. He was taking an absurd amount of shots from an absurd distance after the game was tied at 1-1. He has no business shooting, or being on the pitch at this point for that matter. The way he plays embodies all that was wrong with Portuguese football in the past: tenuous, nervy play when under pressure.

Deco: 8.25 – Distributed well but disappeared for spells at a time during the match. He scored and facilitated the second, match winning tally so he must be doing SOMETHING right .

João Moutinho: 6 – Sometimes “meh” sometimes “eh”.

Attack
Cristiano Ronaldo: 8.75 – Man of the Match - I was getting a bit nervous when he was incapable of imposing his will on the match. However, after he got hit in the mouth just before the break, he seemed to grow a nice sized chip on his shoulder and decide that it was time to stop fucking around. The go-ahead goal was sublime from 16 yards out to Cech’s lower right and the service to my favorite gypsy showed he has a selfless side. Hopefully he’ll settle down now that he has a match winner and an assist to his name.

Nuno Gomes: 7 – Like I said earlier, he isn’t a striker so much as he’s a facilitator. He’s like a center mid who plays way too high up. And he isn’t so bad at that. The turn-and-shoot right at Cech was mildly disappointing, but relatively expected.

Simão: 5.5 – He’s great at passing to Deco from two yards away on those worthless corners they’ve been taking. That is all. Pepe is more believable as an attacker at this point.

Substitutes:
Fernando Meira – Incomplete - I don’t remember him touching the ball after he came on for Moutinho in the 74th minute. Same as last match, really.

Hugo Almeida – Incomplete – He saw as much of the ball as I’ve seen of Angelina Jolie’s nether regions. Came on for Nuno Gomes in the 78thish minute and felt more a “size” replacement than a tactical switch.

Ricardo Quaresma – 7 – He came on for Simão in the 80th minute and scored ten minutes later. The goal was gifted to him by Ronaldo and when Ricky Q was on the ball, he seemed to try and over-impress. What do you expect from a player who’s been largely neglected from the get go in this tournament?

Conclusion:
We’re guaranteed first place and a pass into the next round based on the fact that Turkey just defeated Switzerland 2-1, so it’s hard to argue with the performance we’ve turned in thus far. After Germany, who scares you on the road to the finals? … Exactly.

Força Portugal!!!!

PS – As a Chelsea supporter, I’m personally thrilled to find out that Scolari has been confirmed as Blues boss once the tournament is done. Hopefully he can keep certain key Tuga players at Stamford Bridge and bring one or two more in to ensure a trophy filled season in 08/09.

Tags: Chelsea, Euro 2008, Scolari

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 26 comments.

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By Nelson from NYC | June 11th, 2008 at 4:25 pm

Let me be the first to say that Greg as always great job on the “happy recap” Ricardo really doesn’t have a clue when he has time to think about it. Noone with a yellow card is playing in the next game so that means no Bosingwa. BTW everyone in the tournament is now going to be marking him tighter than a virgin’s daughter. He is definitely not used to it and looked flustered at times in the first half. Petit and Deco get rests and Gomes as well. More later.

By Cristovao | June 11th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

Didn’t see the game (at work). Not surprised to hear about Petit. Never seen what Scolari sees in him anyway. Same goes for Ricardo, Moutinho, and Simmy. Glad to see Quaresma (PORTO!) get in there and get one (even if it was a gift). Hopefully, he gets to be a starter in the Swiss game so he can show his skills. Finally, there doesn’t seem to be any team to fear… except maybe the Netherlands. But we’ll see what they’re really capable of on Friday. Great recap Greg. Peace.

Posted from Canada

By japple | June 11th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

i’m wondering what people think about the possibility of slotting miguel veloso into that holding mid spot? he was impressive in the u-21 tournament a while back, and he has played well the few times ive seen sporting this season.

i understand he’s still young, and relatively inexperienced on an international stage, but there’s no denying his talent.

think we’ll see a bit of him in the final fixture?

Posted from United States

By João | June 11th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

I thought Portugal were rubbish, and the score did not reflect the way they played at all. I’m wondering how they managed to win that match.
Every time Czech Republic had the ball I thought they were going to score, at least they looked really dangerous. Every time Portugal had the ball, it looked they were trying to solve a math problem with little success.
Then they got frustrated, Ronaldo disappeared mostly, they couldn’t pass, they turned into a bunch of individualistic gloryhunters, and the fact they were fighting over who would be taking a freekick proves it.
They’re not a team.

Also god, what is Portugal awful in set pieces, Ricardo doesn’t know where to stand (we need you Quim!) no players at the post, its a joke really I bet amateurs can do better.

And you know what’s really odd? We’re in the quarter-final… unbelievable.

Things I liked:
- Deco’s freekick at the end, just class.
- Ricardo vs Jan Koller, Ricardo is smaller in every way (width, height) and yet Ricardo didn’t flinch when Koller ran at him. To bad you suck (well not at penalties).

Ah well I know many of you are going to disagree with me. :p

BTW who’s going to be the new Portugal coach? I hope they get a foreigner, the only Portuguese up to the job is Mourinho, but he’s at Milan.

Posted from Netherlands

By Jason | June 11th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

For the love of God somebody please Nancy Kerrigan Simao… I cant take those lame corners and his weak free kicks, I could have sworn Ronnie scored 41 goals this year. Give me Quaresma instead and Nuno has to go kills me to say it but he;s better off the bench.

By Michel-Olivier | June 11th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

Simao played two matches and had two bad performances, however he is one of big phil favorites so he will play every game.

Posted from United States

By Rob | June 11th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

I thought Deco was better than Ronaldo, he was just in control of everything good Portugal did.

Regarding Rickie Carvalho on corners – I think its confidence. At Chelsea he’s convince either he, JT or Petr Cech are going to get it. Understandably he does not have the same belief in Ricardo or even Pepe.

Good win though. Good game.

Posted from United Kingdom

By Jan | June 11th, 2008 at 6:25 pm

Congrats to all! We are looking forward to meet up later in the tournament

Posted from Australia

By Daniel | June 11th, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Felicitacoes! Grande jogada de Portugal – Portugal campeao! O CFR Cluj esta com voce.

By squiggy | June 11th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

Nancy Kerrigan Simao. Hilarious.

I thought they shot from outside a lot.

Did I see right, did Simao take a free kick ahead of CR?

If so, that’s telling of “team unity.” It should ALWAYS be CR I would think.

Posted from Canada

By skeeter | June 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

lets be honest although not the most impressive victory, portugal absolutely deserved that win, they had a ton more chances than the czech. with that said corners scare the #@$@ outta me… no man marking and ricardo has spent too much time slapping people to know what a punch is… lol

By webrp | June 11th, 2008 at 10:37 pm

It was very hard game, but Portuguese team has some players with a lot of experience, and we kept the calm. Once more our defenders in big performance, they are the best 2 defenders in this competition, Deco in the midfield is a Maestro, Nuno Gomes again in the assistance, and of course, Ronaldo…

More about portuguese players on
http://www.portugal-soccer.com

Posted from Portugal

By ricardo | June 12th, 2008 at 1:35 am

well gomes has always been good with link up play up front.. its juz a pity the natinal team don play with 2 strikers if not it will bring out the best in him.. ronaldo is a frustratin player to watch.. i always feels tt he is always tryin to get a freekick out of the opponent rather den build up a meaninful attack..

Posted from Singapore

By Pedro Cabral | June 12th, 2008 at 2:53 am

Apparently, there will be a penalty shootout if ever Turkey and Czech Republic tie…

Posted from Luxembourg

By Berdades | June 12th, 2008 at 3:14 am

Grande Portugal!! Demonstra raça e querer, apesar de na 1ª parte termos feito bem pouco.
Grande Cristiano Ronaldo, o melhor do Mundo.

By Pedro | June 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am

I’m glad you’re happy with Scolari’s move to the bridge… Cos I’m still digusted and digesting it… Guys, without Scolari, be prepared for not winning shit, with or without the best players (I often still wonder what would have happened if in 94, 96, 98 and 2002 we had such a coach. With those players, what PT did in 2000 would have happened consistently ever since 94/96 and in the emantime, I’m sure we would have won some silverware. Surelly, today the “song” would be different).

OK, I’m very happy that we beat one of the potential candidates to the title and an extremelly strong team. I go even further and say that things are shaping up for us to nmeet Germany in the semis, which (IF we get there, IF they get there, IF we beat them), would arguably be the most difficult match we’d need to play, including the Final itself.

Anyway, now the focus is on SWI, who don’t want to go out with a single point, while the czechs and the turks fight themselves to the death…

BTW, Greg, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Deco following Scolari to Chelsea as well, BBC are saying he’s gonna try and get Kaká, so I imagine you’d be even happier… Anyway, I’m very curious to see how the mixture Roman (+ friends) + Big Phil is gonna turn out…

FORÇA PT!!!

Posted from Netherlands

By Daniel | June 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am

Dude..you did not watch the same game as me.
ok paulo ferreira did a lot of mistakes for 2 reasons:
1- the winger did cover the back-
as the winger -you should read RONALDO- if the midfielder doesnt defend and allows the forwards to run against the defender …well you do your math!
2- HE`s NOT A LEFT BACK!!! he plays on the right side!

PETIT SUCKED?

Dude you do not understand ZIT about football! Petit pratically defended alone on the center of the midfield he was HUGE!
every shot he made was dangerous!

Simao was a bit of the game but had an important role in positioning the team.

Moutinho was way too off he was the weaker link this game.

And Deco was indeed the best player of the game.

Posted from Portugal

By Daniel | June 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am

i meant the winger didn´t cover the back…

Posted from Portugal

By Greg | June 12th, 2008 at 7:02 am

Daniel. The excuses for Ferreira are bunk at this point. He’s the team’s left back, if he can’t play that position even remotely effectively, don’t start him there. From the way Nuno Gomes is playing, he’s not a lone striker, so it must be his fault he turned and shot right at Cech in the 2nd half.

Petit did suck. I have a genuine understanding of the trinco role he’s supposed to be fulfilling and while he did well in it for the first match against the Turks, he did not do so in this match. You can’t justify the shots he took with the other firepower options we have up front. He looks winded, out of sorts, and plays unsettled football. The nervy clearance past the touch line when he was surrounded by white shirts gave the Czechs the corner they converted on to tie 1-1. His job in the first match (which he did relatively well) was to fill in where the marauding defenders ran forward but his clearances were rushed and incompetent and to justify those shots he took from 30+ meters out is an abomination.

Simão’s touch is not becoming of a forward, he never settled the ball cleanly and confidently to make any genuine, consistent use of the service he was given. Deco was easily a candidate for man of the match and I considered him v Ronaldo up to the final time I went to publish.

Posted from United States

By Naser Ghfran | June 12th, 2008 at 8:17 am

I hope win you evry time. Iran

Posted from Islamic Republic Of Iran

By Nelson | June 12th, 2008 at 8:42 am

Yea Daniel, Petit did suck. And I completely disagree with Deco’s rating, he did not play very well. Yes, he did score a goal and got an assist but a lot of his shorter passes, especially in the first half, were straight at the czechs.

That being said, if he scores and assists on every “bad” game he has, I won’t complain a bit. I don’t think that he was a candidate for man of the match though.

Petit should not be playing a full 90…Raul Meireles should come in for him around the 60-65 min mark, b/c its obvious that he breaks down and starts making bad tackles. Hell, start Meireles over him.

As for CRon not covering the left backs position, thats not his job. I understand people who say that he can’t be the best in the world if he isn’t perfect, but I don’t really care whether he’s the best or not. When Portugal is on defense he doesn’t help out as much because he needs to rest…no one can make those blistering runs for the whole match. Paulo Ferreira’s job is to cover the left back of the pitch, and he sucked at it yesterday.

Again, I actually like it better that no one really stood out (at least in my eyes), because I would prefer everyone to play well rather than one guy to play amazing and everyone else to just be ok.

Posted from United States

By skeeter | June 12th, 2008 at 8:59 am

Nelson… completly agree… Look at Germany a team except for Ballack with no big stars and they always get good to great results… on a side note although id perfer veloso vs meireles, much more defensive minded.

Posted from Canada

By Ceasar | June 12th, 2008 at 10:38 am

Good Summary Greg, especially considering you were looking at the game thru beer/brandy glasses. haha
Not sure I would rate Ferreira so low. It was clear that the Czech’s game plan was to go thru him and use the air attack on us (I expect all the other teams to also follow the same game plan). So considering this, he didn’t play too bad.
Totally agree with your assessment of Ricardo. But in his defense the CB didn’t provide the cover as required. Pepe had a good game but he’s pretty weak on corner kick coverage and because of that Carvalho is loosing a little confidence. Scolari needs to fix that before the knock-out stage.
I also agree that Ronaldo got his act together after the smack on the chops, so maybe we need one of our guys to nail him between the balls at the start of the game. Works in bull riding!

For the Swiss game I think all the carded players will rest. He should give Ronaldo a break because he’s had a long season and we need to conserve him for the later games. I think he’ll start but get taken out early. Up front we should see Almieda actually start and get subbed for Postiga later in the game. And we should see Nani get a start. I’d play Deco and Moutinho because they need to get to learn each others tendences in games and Deco especially needs more game time. Plus Deco hasn’t played much in Spain this year so fatigue shouldn’t be a factor with him.

Go Portugal!

Posted from Canada

By Matthew | June 12th, 2008 at 11:13 am

Great blog – I love the recaps and the comments, even if I disagree with some of them.

I think the rating and some of the comments have been too hard on Simao (although the “arguing” over the free kick with Deco was stupid) and I think he made more of a positive impact than Moutinho. He’s more physical and that’s one thing that Portugal lacks up front. That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing Quaresma in the starting lineup, but maybe in place of Moutinho instead of Simao.

I’m seeing a little bit of the “leaderless” nature of Portugal, which worries me going forward, but I’m hoping that Scolari can keep them together and playing as a team.

Petit – I think he did a decent job, although I agree he shouldn’t have been taking those shots. He hustles, and is good at defending the Portuguese turf.

Ricardo – he really scared me a few times this match, more than I can remember from previous matches (I don’t get to watch much club football, but I take it he sucks at set pieces in general). I’m just hoping our luck holds up with set pieces, and hey, if Portugal end up in another penalty shoot-out, I’ll be thankful that Ricardo is there.

Overall a great match, Portugal showed tenacity and CR and Deco did a great job. I’m glad that Portugal can rest some of their key players this next match, and give some of the other guys a chance to warm up so that if/when they’re called on to play in the later games they will have already had a chance to play out their first nervous moments.

Viva Portugal!

Posted from United States

By jansen | June 12th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

paulo ferreira worked a lot, he had a 2 dificult tasks mark baros and sionko and e run a lot to make some crosses…he was better than bosingwa who lost lots of balls, 2nd half was a litle better….but has a team portugal was and is Huge!

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